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Athens-Clarke Commission race draws two candidates

A longtime Athens-Clarke planning commissioner and a political newcomer are running for an open West Athens county commission seat.

Both candidates, Jerry NeSmith and Ron Winders, say development is the key issue in District 6, which includes Atlanta Highway, Mitchell Bridge Road and a portion of Bogart.

While NeSmith said he welcomes Athens’ new Caterpillar plant and the University of Georgia’s Normaltown medical campus, he is concerned about development pressures they’ll bring. He also said he’s worried that a new mall in Oconee County will hurt Atlanta Highway retailers.

“District 6 has a whole new set of challenges, and somebody needs to be able to hit the ground running,” he said.

NeSmith, the director of research services at UGA, has served on the planning commission for nine years and has a track record of voting against developers’ requests for rezonings and variances that were opposed by nearby residents. The Deerhill Drive resident also served on committees that helped select projects to fund with a 2010 sales tax referendum and wrote a master plan for Winterville, and he sits on the board of directors for the Athens Farmers Market.

Winders, a business consultant, has no experience in politics or local government, but said he’s paid attention to issues from afar for years, especially those that affect his neighborhood off Huntington Road.

Winders said he was motivated to run by developments around Georgia Square mall that he said are flooding creeks, eroding soil and killing wildlife.

“They’ve hurt our property values, and they’re not what neighbors want to see come into that area,” he said.

He also disagreed with a recent commission decision to build a box culvert over McNutt’s Creek rather than a more expensive bridge as part of the Jennings Mill Parkway extension, in spite of concerns about environmental damage.

Winders has a degree in social work from UGA, worked in sales for 20 years and attends St. Joseph’s Catholic Church with his wife, Tanya, and daughter, Bailey.

District 6 currently is bordered by Atlanta Highway, the Oconee, Barrow and Jackson county lines, Tallassee Road and the Forest Heights subdivision.

It would not change much if the U.S. Department of Justice approves a new district map in time for candidate qualifying next week, losing only the Rivercliff Estates subdivision off Tallassee Road and the area between Atlanta Highway and Epps Bridge Parkway.

Incumbent Ed Robinson has said he won’t seek a second term. Another announced candidate, web designer and former Athens-Clarke Economic Development Foundation board member Stephanie Sharp, said she is bowing out for personal reasons.